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Cardigans - Conservative could be the new Radical


Sexy cardigan
The cardigan can be a sexy option



The unassuming cardigan may not have ever been the height of fashion but it has drifted in and out of public consciousness since its arrival in the 1800’s. Comfortable and practical, emanating a gentle, harmless comfort of intellectual individualism, when I think cardigan I think of Librarians, Professors or retirees.

cardigans
A range of choices



Named after British Military man James Thomas Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan these open breasted, often knitted sweaters can be zipped, buttoned or tied. Available in a range of necklines, it seems the V-collar has become the dominant form.

mens cardigans
It takes a brave man...


Over gauardian.co.uk I found an interesting article that claims this conservative Autumn/Winter attire is coming back for both men and women. According to guardian there is still a stigma about wearing them even in their own offices, but points out that “only two out of six questioned fall within the 18-35 age group that Asda says is helping its cardigans "fly off the shelves". According to a survey of 1,000 Brits by George Menswear 48% of men aged 18 to 35 have worn a cardigan on a date.”

“George also found that that 72% of women find men in cardigans sexy, and 87% of women said a cardigan denoted a man "who is comfortable and confident with his sexuality".”


fashion cardigan
You can't dismiss the element of casual class


A post I did recently on Nigella Lawson featured the buxom culinary mistress sporting this woollen look effectively, but women have always happily donned the knit-wear. It’s us men that seem to label others geeky, nerdy and unstylish, jumping to the conclusion that a woman must be uptight or a spinster if she wears one in public.

celebrity cardigans
The celebrity cardigan/vest emerges


So, the next time you want to jump to stereotype remember that boldly stepping outside the norm and taking your look down a notch may say more about you than the most flamboyant rebellion.

Visit gaurdian.co.uk for the full story

For another perspective visit telegraph.co.uk to read another Cardigancentric post.


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Fashion Guidelines for the New Year

January 5th 2008 06:00
Fashion Guidelines for the New Year


fashion 2008 black
The 2008 look ahead

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A Look Back at the Year in Fashion

December 26th 2007 03:57
A Look Back at the Year in Fashion

Fashion 2007
Fashion 2007

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More Mouret

July 5th 2007 08:28
Only a few posts ago I was bemoaning the lack Roland Mouret in my life after that galaxy dress (worn rather well by Demi Moore). But Style.com has informedme that he has returned, view their article here.

And here's my favourites of the aforementioned collection


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In this rainy wintry weather looking at Junya Watanabe’s men’s collection in Milan I was reminiscing about college. For those of you unfamiliar with the Canberra education system, years 11 and 12 at public schools are called colleges, are located on their own grounds, have no uniforms and the teachers are called by their first names. There’s no HSC, assessment is close to the university system and generally they’re far nicer places to be. Anyway when I was at college the boys used to dress like this, themselves nostalgic for some sort of 80s punky/motorcycle rider style.

Junya watanabe chequered pants
From Vogue.co.uk

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Fashion blog diet

June 19th 2007 00:11
Fashion blogging, like most other blogging provides a forum for otherwise unqualified opinionators, like me. That is, except in the case of The Sartorialist whose blog has been listed by Time as one of the top 100 design influences. His images appear on Style.com and in Vanity Fair and his pithy comments and street shots are indeed a cultural record. He balances the male and female shots and favours the quirky or unconventional, those who don’t just follow trends but help create them. And his journeys to Berlin and Scandinavia, Milan and Paris provide a travel-poor Sydney-ite with the vicarious pleasure of the international flaneur.

The Sartorialist blog
From Thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

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Daria Werbowy: Canadian Amazon

June 15th 2007 00:07
Daria Werbowy
From Dariawerbowy.org


Pictured here all fresh faced and delightful is Daria Werbowy of Canada. Werbowy, like Jessica Stam, passes my knee test (if the thigh is wider than the knee then the model is not sick) and not only that but she exhibits an intelligence one may not expect from models. Maybe she’s simply learned to feign intent with those blue eyes of hers, or perhaps I’m prejudiced because she’s brunette but I do think there’s something more in Werbowy’s brain than is usually held in the mind of a model


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In my habitual internet trawlings I came across quite a feat on the Prada website. Admittedly I didn’t much like this season’s collection but the means by which it is represented is a true cultural document. Prada demonstrates wit, self-reflexivity and pastiche in a way that many other ‘postmodernists’ should envy. As a European luxury brand, descended from a grand tradition to a commercial reality, Prada is a modern day icon but the self-representation offers an entirely new perspective on the brand.

Prada sunglasses
From Prada.com

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Gucci sucks

June 13th 2007 00:43
Just about anyone with any style steers clear of Gucci on the whole and their Autumn/Winter 07 collection only affirms that general principle. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Lily Donaldson in Gucci
From Gucci.com

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French, a singer and daughter of Serge, Charlotte Gainsbourg had to be gorgeous. Obviously inheriting more of her actress/model mother's (Jane Birkin of Hermes Birkin bag fame) looks than her brooding crooner dad. Recently she gained greater Australian exposure in The Science of Sleep, starring alongside Gael Garcia Bernaz as a Parisienne neighbour gradually drawn into a world of fantasy and phantasm. As you can see in this picture there was minimal attention paid to her hair and makeup, her wardrobe was dowdy and still she radiates beauty.

Charlotte Gainsbourg in the Science of Sleep
From MSN.com

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VivienneWestwood.com
From Viviennewestwood.com


After visiting the Victoria and Albert exhibition which travelled to the National Gallery in Canberra a few years ago, I’ve been obsessed with Vivienne Westwood. It’s not just that she’s sixty and has a beautiful thirty-year-old Italian lover, although that does impress me, and it’s not just that she’s been an inspiration for generations of fashionistas, mostly it’s because for Westwood, fashion is thought


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One of the most striking models of the contemporary brat pack is Jessica Stam, a statuesque Canadian who has the kind of natural physique required for catwalk shows. She is indeed long and slender but there is nothing painful about the proportions of her legs or the position of her clavicle. My general rule is that if the knee is wider than the thigh there’s a problem but Stam is in proportion as you can see from the Stella McCartney show.

Jessica Stam in McCartney
From Style.com

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Black is invariably the new black

June 5th 2007 23:49
Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy
From photobucket.com


Although Coco Chanel was really the first to bring the black dress into the everyday wardrobe of the modern woman, its place was indeed cemented with Hepburn’s appearance in Givenchy during Breakfast at Tiffany (see Sisi's post) last year for more on that dress


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Darling Natalie Portman

June 4th 2007 12:21
Recent Psychology graduate and general cutie-pie Natalie Portman has made the remarkable transition from child actor to adult star, in the non-pornographic sense, and astute style siren. With a particularly petite body and despite some onerous comparisons to Audrey Hepburn - no one needs that hanging over them - she has done rather well for herself.

Dramatically cropped Natalie Portman
From MSN.com

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